Hotelier who compares himself to Basil Fawlty kneed in groin by irate guest, court hears

By LUKE SALKELD

Last updated at 23:51 21 December 2007

As a fan of the Basil Fawlty school of inn keeping, Andy Hageman should have known that conflicts with guests always end painfully for the innocent hotelier.

It was a lesson he was to learn again in eye-watering fashion when, following a full and frank exchange of views with a customer, the two men crashed to the floor and Mr Hageman was kneed in the groin.

The 42-year-old hotel boss had, admittedly, already drawn heavily on Fawlty-like powers of diplomacy when he told irate Ian Peters: "What I can't stand about people like you is you come and stay at my hotel and expect to be able not to pay for it."

Peters, a 62-year-old architect, had been complaining about the noise during his stay at Mortons House Hotel in Corfe Castle, Dorset.

Appalled at the reaction to his gripe, he punched Mr Hageman in the face and wrestled him to the flagstone floor.

The scuffle continued until police arrived.

Peters was charged with assault and was fined £375 after admitting the offence at Blandford Magistrates' Court.

The court heard Peters and his wife had gone to the 21-room 16th century hotel for the weekend.

But their room was above busy kitchens, which kept them awake, and the following night they were displeased to find themselves sharing the venue with a wedding party.

Simon Clark, prosecuting, said: "It appears the defendant was unhappy about the room."

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Speaking after the hearing Mr Hageman - who was compared to Basil Fawlty by broadcaster Sue Lawley - said it had been a quiet summer's night.

He claimed Peters, an architect from Purley, South London, attacked him after arriving back at the hotel from a local pub.

Mr Hageman said: "There was a wedding party but it only consisted of four people.

"The man came in from a pub and asked me outside and then he started swinging for me. I've never experienced anything like that in 13 years in the hotel industry.

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"I restrained him until the police arrived and while I was restraining him he fell over and I went with him on to the floor."

He added: "It is true that I have been likened to Basil Fawlty. But this hotel was named the South West's best small hotel of the year in 2005 and was runner-up last year."

Mr Hageman, who is pursuing a civil claim against Peters, has even written a book entitled Inn Keeping with Mr Fawlty: The Confessions of an Hotelier.

He was partly inspired by the Sue Lawley review two years ago.

She wrote: "Mortons House Hotel is a fine old building in the centre of Corfe Castle and was supervised on the night we stayed there by a man who clearly thought Fawlty Towers was a management training video."

She added: "It's just that Basil is not nearly as funny in real life."

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Mr Hageman is proud of his similarities to John Cleese's character.

In his book, which is out next month, he writes: "When I left school the deputy head said that I would never amount to anything and be of no use to society whatsoever.

"But now I am being compared to the great Basil Fawlty."

He adds: "Diary note to self - Practice Goose-step."

Yesterday he explained: "People have been calling me Basil Fawlty for years. And it's because I don't suffer fools. Whoever said that the customer is always right has clearly not worked in the hotel industry.

"Behaviour has got a lot worse in the last 13 years since I've been in the business and I just won't take it.